By Vivian Emoni
Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, President-Elect, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has called for structural reforms, professional management and private-sector participation to revive Nigeria’s moribund state-owned enterprises.
Adesugba said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that Nigeria must diagnose the causes of enterprise failures before injecting capital for the revival, stressing the imperative of efficient governance, accountability and commercial discipline as key to the successful revival.
Adesugba, a development economist and investment promotion expert also called for structural reforms, professional management and private-sector participation as measures to revive the moribund state-owned enterprises.
He said the revival should begin with an honest assessment on why the businesses failed, rather than immediate injection of fresh capital.
He identified political interference, weak budget discipline, incompetent boards and lack of consequences for poor performance as major causes of the enterprise failure.
According to him, the government must first determine which enterprises are viable, which ones should be liquidated and which ones should be handled by private investors.
He cited China’s reforms, where authorities shifted emphasis from managing state assets directly to managing capital and improving returns on government investments.
Adesugba said Singapore also demonstrated that state-owned enterprises could succeed when required to become commercially viable without depending on government subsidies.
He said Nigeria could apply similar discipline by ensuring that only strategic and viable enterprises receive government support for restructuring.
The expert also advocated hard budget disciple, noting that continued access to government funding could encourage inefficiency and undermine efforts to revive failed enterprises.
He urged the government to reconstitute boards based on competence and experience, while insulating them from political interference and subjecting them to measurable performance targets.
He also cited Malaysia’s government-linked company reforms as evidence that strong governance, performance indicators and turnaround plans could improve the performance of state-owned enterprises.
He said that professional managers should be empowered to take commercial decisions and held accountable for results rather than being constrained by political considerations.
Adesugba also emphasised the need to settle pension, staff members and other legacy liabilities before transferring or restructuring moribund enterprises.
He said unresolved liabilities could undermine reforms because investors could inherit historical problems capable of frustrating new investments and operations.
He noted that the Federal Government addressed some legacy obligations during the power-sector privatisation by providing for severance payments and inherited debts.
Adesugba, also the National Vice President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said the experience demonstrated that enterprise revival required substantial initial investment and careful resolution of historical obligations.
He warned that shortcuts could only postpone existing problems, adding that successful restructuring must address both financial and institutional weaknesses.
According to him, government must distinguish between enterprises requiring reform and those that no longer have a viable commercial future.
He said such a disciplined approach would enable government to concentrate scarce resources on enterprises capable of contributing to economic growth, employment and industrial development. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
VOE/FEO
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Edited by Francis Onyeukwu